Two US Navy SEALs who went missing on January 11 in the Gulf of Aden were pronounced dead by the US Central Command on Sunday.

"We regret to announce that after a 10-day exhaustive search, our two missing US Navy SEALs have not been located and their status has been changed to deceased," said General Michael Erik Kurilla, CENTCOM's commander.

“We mourn the loss of our two Naval Special Warfare warriors, and we will forever honor their sacrifice and example," the statement said.

CENTCOM said that the search and rescue operation had been curtailed after the SEALs went missing in a January 11 raid and that "we are now conducting recovery operations." 

Expansive search operation

The Central Command said that aircrafts and warships from US, Japan and Spain continuously combed a vast area of the Gulf of Aden, between Yemen and Somalia.

Search assistance was also provided by a number of institutes, including the US Coast Guard Atlantic Area Command and the Office of Naval Research for Oceanographic Support.

"Out of respect for the families, no further information will be released at this time," the Central Command said.

Sailors went missing during a mission in the rough seas

The two sailors were attached to a team of US Navy SEALs that searched a small boat, or dhow, and, according to the military, found Iranian missile parts bound for Houthi rebels in Yemen.

"On 11 January 2024, while conducting a flag verification, US CENTCOM Navy forces conducted a night-time seizure of a dhow conducting illegal transport of advanced lethal aid from Iran to resupply Houthi forces in Yemen as part of the Houthis’ ongoing campaign of attacks against international merchant shipping" the Central Command said.

The US military had described the equipment obtained in the raid as "the first seizure of lethal, Iranian-supplied advanced conventional weapons... to the Houthis since the beginning of Houthi attacks against merchant ships in November 2023."

rm/msh (AP, AFP)